The Birmingham Northern "Relief" Road, the motorway John Prescott said wouldn’t work and Labour promised they would never build, has been given the final go-ahead six years late by the Government.
Midlands Expressway Limited has persuaded banks and construction companies to back them in smashing through 27 miles of green belt. Bank of America and Abbey National will pay for this environmental destruction and CAMBBA (Costain, Alfred MacAlpine, Balfour Beatty and AMEC) will build it.
West Midlands Friends of the Earth and the Alliance Against the Birmingham Northern Relief Road say this is disastrous for the environment and for motorists alike. They point out that:
Hazel Barnes of the Alliance Against the BNRR said: "This is a black day for people who live along the BNRR route."
Gerald Kells of West Midlands Friends of the Earth said: "New Labour claimed they’d learnt that building endless motorways was a Tory mistake and they had a new transport policy which would end this kind of eco-destruction for short-term gains. The Birmingham Northern Relief Road shows they haven’t learnt their lesson. "
Work will start later this year and the road is expected to open in 2004.
This news may cast doubt on the value of all the Government’s corridor studies which are supposed to find other ways than road building to solve congestion problems.
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